According to Bridget Nash of the Enid News and Eagle, Chip Harrison, an Oklahoma City man, was driving on the interstate with a sign in his window. The sign read, “Abort Obama, not the unborn.” The man was pulled over by an Oklahoma City police officer who confiscated the sign. The sign was later returned by the police department, but the Secret Service later visited the man’s house and asked to conduct an informal search. The Secret Service walked through Harrison’s house to determine if Harrison was a threat.
Harrison was unwise in the way he worded his sign, but government overreaction over Chip Harrison’s sign lead to infringements on his First and Fourth Amendment rights. Harrison did get his sign back, and he voluntarily allowed the Secret Service to search his house, but this event should be a warning to all that the reach of government is extensive. Who knows what might have happened to Harrison had he not cooperated with the police and Secret Service. Harrison probably has his own special Secret Service file now, but things could have been much worse for him if he had tried to stand up for his freedom of speech and his right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
Enid News and Eagle Article
"OKC Officer Pulls Man over for Anti-Obama Sign on Vehicle"
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